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5. Shoot 'Em Up

I'm not sure about the opening weekend for this one. It looks like it could be pretty lame, but I think it will be saved from the movie graveyard by the action-packed marketing. However, I'm not convinced it's going to be everything that the studio portrays in its commercials and it will die a very quick death.

6. The Game Plan

The Rock in a kids' film. Check.
Middle of the pack. Check.
Nothing more to see. Move on folks.

7. The Brothers Solomon

Will Forte is the latest of the Saturday Night Live cast to try his hand and the big screen. He plays a wide variety of characters on TV and I think that is a definite plus for him in this role since he hasn't been typecast. I'm kind of looking at this like last month's Hot Rod with co-SNLer Andy Samberg. He's funny, but the general public doesn't know who he is. In fact we should see very similar numbers - $5 million to start and finish at somewhere around $15 million.

8. The Brave One

While Jodie Foster has had some pretty big successes in recent years, I really don't think this is going to be one of them. She plays a woman who is out for revenge after her fiancé is killed in front of her. There has been some marketing out already for this one, but not overwhelming at least from my perspective. It may turn out to be one of her better acting performances, but I'm not convinced how well audiences will receive it.

9. Mr. Woodcock

Billy Bob Thornton definitely doesn't have to worry about getting himself typecast. He chooses such a variety of scripts and seems to do well with each one of his roles. The commercials I've seen are really pushing Thornton's character's crappy attitude towards people. I think the studio is going about this the wrong way and are going to turn off some people with this ad campaign. All we see is Thornton insulting and humiliating people without any of the story being revealed. His character is so overwhelming and there is no one to offset his personality. Maybe it will be okay this way, but I doubt it.

10. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

This is the second of this month's westerns. While the main cast is very strong (Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, and Sam Shepard), this production has been plagued with problems. There have been numerous edits and re-shoots, which is never a good thing. Also, the studio has moved the release date around a few times because it has been trying to figure out where exactly to place it. It looks like they finally just decided to dump it here and give it a limited release. Usually a smaller number of theaters would keep a film from making the top 10, but with the weak releases and the draw of Brad Pitt, it barely squeaks into the bottom of the list.

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